The Miami Herald
Clip and save. More and more people are using food coupons these days, marketing analysts says. All indications are that because of rising food costs, shoppers who formerly thought coupon clipping a pain in the neck are taking the time to save their pennies. As a result, the number of people who use coupons has doubled in the last four years and coupons are going to become an even more important merchandising technique, according to the R H. Donnelley Marketing firm, the country's second largest coupon redemption service. "I'VE TALKED to thousands of people, people who are chairman of the board and people like my wife," said Ed Vesely, director for coupon "redemption at Donnelley." Everybody uses coupons. It costs too much to not use them." In 1975, 35.7 billion coupons were issued by manufacturers and retailers. In I978, the figure grew to 72.7 billon. Even though coupons are popular, however, only 5 per cent of those 72.7 billon coupons were redeemed. At that rate, the amount of money saved with coupons was only 42 cents for every $100 spent in food stores, according to the Food Marketing Institute, a Washington DC-based trade organization. The average value of cents-off coupons is 20 cents, the Food Marketing Institute said. THE NIELSEN company, the research firm which is best known for its ratings of television shows, has also surveyed coupon users. Don Garvey, a spokesman for Nielsen, said coupon clippers tend to be in the high-middle income group, better educated and have four or more in the household. "People are actively looking for coupon offers, and they do represent a real savings," Garvey said. Redeeming coupons in the supermarket gives the consumer a way to directly involve himself in lowering prices. And, occasionally, coupons provide an excuse for socializing: Coupon clubs, scattered from coast to coast, often begin their meetings with coupon swaps and end with coffee and conversation. Consumers can swap coupons through the mall. The Coupon Center, Box 700, 1610 Argyle Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. 90028 operates this way: Consumers save cent-off coupons from advertisements and products. The ones the consumer doesn't use are mailed with the expiration date circled to the Coupon Center. A letter listing the total value of the coupons and the kinds of the coupons the consumer wants in return also is mailed in with a self-addressed stamped envelope and $3 annual membership fee. GARVEY SAID coupon offer benefits to food firms as well as shoppers. Coupons help build volume sales, he said. They don't move poor products, but they might remind a consumer that he hasn't bought a particular brand of cereal lately. The coupon industry, like the auto industry, is always changing, Garvey said. "They add a little chrome to the product or take away. They fool around with techniques to grab the consumer's attention." Among the efforts to make couponing more attractive in recent years was the introduction of "cash-ins." These coupons found in magazines, newspapers mailers and on boxes and bags may be turned in at the checkout counter for cash no mailing or waiting is necessary. To date, the most successful type of cash-in is the type the food industry calls the "self-destruct" a coupon that gives the consumer two options, Garvey said. For example, the consumer could, use the cash-in coupon to save a, few cents on his next purchase of a box of soap, or he could save 10 coupons and get a box of soap free. But he can't do both; Thus, self-destruct. GENERALLY, coupons are issued for food items, household goods and beauty and health aids. Food coupons are much more popular than the latter two categories, according to a Department of Agriculture report. The majority of coupons or almost 56 per cent are printed in newspapers. The next best place to find coupons is in free-standing ad inserts, followed by magazines, Sunday supplements, on box labels and in direct mail (only 3 per cent). Rarely will consumers find coupons discounting perishables: Retailers usually don't know whether they're going to have 100 bushels of apples in time to print coupons for them. NOT ALL coupons are redeemed legally. In 1977, for example, coupon fraud was estimated at $185 million, a sizable portion of the $800 million in coupons that changed hands that year. Fraud takes place when a store operator redeems coupons without requiring that the proper purchase be made. The coupon Industry is trying to crack down on fraud by filing complaints of suspected postal fraud. One company includes a warning on its coupons that "mint condition or gang cut (coupons not circulated -------------------
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